By Chris Chang, posted Oct 20, 2010 at 12:20 PM, 6,946 views,

Shenzhen Customs Charge You Tax For Bringing Along an iPad

If you’re visiting Shenzhen, better leave your iPad at home – unless you’re willing to pay tax for the device. An American-Chinese man said he was charged duty by Shenzhen customs officials at the Lowu border recently for an iPad he had been using for months. To prevent his iPad getting confiscated, he paid 1,000 yuan (about $150) sadly.

Here’s what the unlucky man told the local media,

“Although I showed them the pictures and documents I stored in my iPad, and told them I have been using it for months, they just wouldn’t listen. In the end I had to pay 1,000 yuan before I could leave.”

In a bid to prevent smuggling, Shenzhen authorities are imposing a tax of 1,000 yuan ($150) on several gadgets, including iPads and other microcomputers. According to Shenzhen customs officials, a traveler is allowed to bring along goods with the value not exceeding 5,000 yuan for personal use. Goods such as television, cameras, or other 20 types of electronic gadgets are not duty-free. Since iPad belongs to ‘microcomputers’, a traveler needs to pay 20% import duty for bringing along, no matter it’s used or unused. As far as we know, authorities seize an average of 10 iPads a day and, so far, 60 are suspected of being smuggled. The rest were returned after owners paid the tax.

We all know that the evil customs would charge taxes for brand new iPhones and iPads, but now, you would need to pay tax even though your stuff is used. We took some deep research on this issue, and we found out that any electronic gadgets which cost over 2,000 yuan must be charged taxes. Here’s a math breakdown did by Shanghaiist:

Speaking frankly, why travelers need to pay tax for their own iPad? Although this regulation may stop the smuggling cases, but this is totally ridiculous for iPad users. So, is the Chinese government or Apple telling me not to bring an iPad to Shenzhen?

Source: Appledaily, Joowii.com via Shanghaiist